TurkeyAdem Altan—AFP/Getty ImagesTurkey’s international standing was enhanced when the country took its seat as a nonpermanent member of the UN Security Council on Jan. 1, 2009. Turkey was also a member state of the Group of 20 (G-20) and sent representatives to the G-20 summit meetings held in London and in Pittsburgh during the year. In spite of these successes, the ruling conservative Justice and Development Party (AKP) lost ground in the local government elections held on March 29. The AKP won 39% of the votes—down from its 42% total in the 2004 local elections and the 47% it won in the 2007 general elections—while the two parties of the Turkish nationalist opposition, the Republican People’s Party and the Nationalist Action Party, each improved on its past performances. The Kurdish nationalist Democratic Society Party consolidated its dominant position in the southeastern provinces. The local government elections were followed by a government reshuffle on May 1. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s foreign policy adviser, Ahmet Davutoglu, became foreign minister, replacing Ali Babacan, who was appointed deputy prime minister in charge of the economy.

Relations between the government and the military were strained by an expanding investigation into an alleged military plot to overthrow the government. In October 2008, charges had been brought against 86 defendants, including a number of high-ranking officers. While most of the officers arrested were subsequently released, 56 of the 86 defendants accused of having instigated the so-called Ergenekon plot remained in prison as new charges were added to the original indictment.

The National Security Council recommended in August that the government continue to implement its policy of strengthening the unity of the nation—i.e., of fulfilling at least some Kurdish aspirations. In a message released to the press in August, however, Gen. Ilker Basbug, the Turkish armed forces chief, declared that the military remained opposed to any change in the constitution that would specify Kurdish rights and to a general amnesty for members of the militant Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which continued to target members of security forces in hit-and-run attacks. Erdogan stated in October that government reforms aimed at expanding Kurdish rights could be jeopardized unless the PKK ended its insurgency. Although Erdogan announced in November a plan to allow the use of the Kurdish language in broadcast media, at the end of the year the Constitutional Court disbanded the Democratic Society Party, citing ties with the PKK.

On October 10, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu joined his Armenian counterpart, Edward Nalbandian, in signing two protocols that called for the establishment of full diplomatic relations and the opening of the frontier between the two countries. Achieving those goals remained problematic, however, even if the protocols were ratified by both countries’ parliaments, as opposition to the protocols emerged on numerous fronts. Turkey’s relations with Syria and Iraq were upgraded to “strategic partnerships,” and visa-free travel between Turkey and Syria came into force in September. Relations with Israel deteriorated. On January 29, Erdogan quit a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switz., complaining that he had not been allowed to respond to a speech by Israeli Pres. Shimon Peres rejecting Turkish criticism of the Israeli operation in Gaza. In October, Turkey withdrew at the last moment an invitation to the Israeli air force to take part in joint maneuvers in central Turkey.

U.S. Pres. Barack Obama visited Turkey on April 6–7 and expressed support for Turkey’s aspirations to join the EU. The EU annual report on Turkey’s progress praised the government’s Kurdish and Armenian initiatives while drawing attention to shortcomings in human rights. In response to the report, Egemen Bagis, Turkey’s minister for EU affairs, outlined a program of legislation aimed at meeting some of the EU’s demands.

The effects of the global recession were felt in Turkey throughout 2009. GDP contracted by 7% year-on-year in the second quarter; the volume of foreign trade fell by 36% in the first nine months; and the unemployment rate increased from 10% to 13% by the end of July. However, the index of the Istanbul Stock Exchange more than doubled from a low of 26,864 at the beginning of the year to 59,093 by November 5, which suggested that in Turkey the worst of the economic crisis was over.

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